DIVISION GAMES PUT BEARS AT FORK IN ROAD

Melissa Isaacson, Tribune Staff WriterCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Lost in a sea of frustrating losses and disappointing seasons, the critical stretches and turning points don't seem quite so critical anymore. But a look back at recent Bears history reveals too many occasions when a season was lost in as short a span as three weeks, and a look ahead suggests how it can all too easily happen again.

The Bears (3-3) are at just such a juncture with five of their next six games on the road, beginning Sunday in Tampa. In that stretch, four games are against Central Division opponents, three on the road against the Bucs, Green Bay and Detroit.

If it pains them to talk about the implications, mainly because it violates the cardinal sports cliche about looking ahead, the Bears acknowledge that it may very well dictate the tenor of their entire season.

"All I know is we've got to get on a roll," tight end Ryan Wetnight said. "Momentum is big in this league. When you win big games and you're able to come back and put some wins together, momentum goes a long way. It also goes both ways--when you lose a couple of games, you get down. So the next three games will be tough for us, and they're all important."

Look no further back than last year for an example of how quickly hopes for a decent season can deteriorate with the first bad stretch.

The '98 Bears were 3-5 after winning three of their previous four games and two in a row entering their week off, with what appeared to be a winnable game against St. Louis the week after that.

But knee and shoulder injuries sustained in previous weeks caught up with quarterback Erik Kramer. He was among the league leaders in five passing categories at the time, but he couldn't take another snap the rest of the season. The Bears lost to the Rams, to the next five opponents after that and dropped seven of their last eight games, a descent they were increasingly incapable of stopping.

"It's hard to stop, and it's hard to quantify," defensive tackle Jim Flanigan said. "You just kind of feel it and try to do your best individually and hope that will be enough to turn the tide for the whole team if everybody approaches it that way. But that doesn't always happen."

In '95, the Bears were off to a 6-2 start when an overtime loss to Pittsburgh at home was the start of a three-game losing streak. The Bears dropped five of their final eight that season, and many pointed to the Pittsburgh loss as the pivotal point of then-coach Dave Wannstedt's decline.

The Bears have not played three road games in a row since the '95 season, when they beat the New York Giants before losing to Detroit and Cincinnati in the final downward spiral as they just missed the playoffs at 9-7.

In '94, the Bears played three straight on the road in November and December and lost two to drop from 8-4 and a possible division title to 8-6.

Linebacker Barry Minter said the Bears are at an advantage in having this tough swing relatively early in the season.

"Momentum plays a big part in the middle of the season to make that December push," he said. "Somewhere in these next three weeks or so, not that we're overlooking Tampa Bay, but there's going to be somebody in the Central that's going to break out of the pack. We're not going to all be sitting at 4-4. Somebody's going to step up and start leading the way, so it's important that we play well and get some `W's' in this stretch."

More than anything, Minter said, the Bears have to learn how to make winning a habit. "You have to get some back-to-back wins, and then it just gets to the point that you're banking on them, you're feeling good, you're staying healthy and for some reason, things just begin to roll. Practice gets easier, games get easier, things just fall into place a little bit better."

At the same time, James Williams cautioned, it's a mistake to place too much importance on any one stretch. "I believe in momentum but I believe right now we are so young that we're not going to really be a momentum team," he said. "We're going to have highs and we're going to have lows, and it's all about how everybody deals with them.

"We ought to be able to go in and play Tampa hard, get ourselves a good win, and I'm not saying it will be a momentum builder . . . but it will start us on the right track. It will get us back on track."

The Bucs (2-3) are coming off two division losses at Minnesota and at Green Bay, followed by an open week. Sunday's game will be Tampa Bay's third of four straight against NFC Central teams.

"It's a stretch you look forward to because you know that's pretty much going to dictate your season," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said, adding that he's surprised by the inconsistency throughout the division.

"The first team that gets hot, the first team that can put about five weeks of good football back-to-back, is going to jump out and take the lead," he said.

Flanigan agrees, and wants the Bears to keep the Bucs moving in the wrong direction. "You never know what can happen to Tampa if we beat them down there," he said. "They can go in the tank and that would make the rest of our season a lot easier. It's one less team we have to chase."